Rangers catcher Mike Napoli sprinted to the dugout after the thunder clap, which many witnesses likened to a bomb going off.

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"It just kind of freaked me out, so I just started running to the dugout," Napoli said. "It was just so quick and you see the flash and the bang, I just started running for some odd reason."

Napoli easily was the first to reach the dugout.

"I've seen him move that fast before," teammate Ian Kinsler said, "but not very often."

Twins first base coach Jerry White appeared to duck behind first base umpire Jeff Kellogg and Minnesota baserunner Josh Willingham, on first at the time, dropped to the ground..

"That was the loudest thunder I've ever heard in my life," Rangers first baseman Michael Young said. "Willingham hit the deck. I turned around and he was doing a dirt angel in the floor. Jerry White, their first-base coach, was going bananas. He hid behind the umpire."

Washington said the Rangers' dugout ribbed White about his reaction.

"Yes we did," Washington chuckled. "He ran behind the umpire, then he ran toward our dugout. He didn't know where he was."

Rangers pitcher Roy Oswalt was going into his stretch when the thunder and lightning hit. He flinched, stepped off the rubber to walk off the mound and then kept going to the dugout.

Twins batter Ryan Doumit ducked, then took off toward the visitors dugout along the third-base line.

Afterward, the players could be seen chuckling about their reactions, possibly out of nervous relief.

"We watched the video probably about 40 times, just watching everybody on the field," Napoli said. "And every time we watched it we cracked up laughing."

The players could laugh because no one was hurt. And then the jokes began, after a few tense moments.

"My heart stopped when I heard the thunder at the stadium," Twins outfielder Ben Revere tweeted during what became a 46-minute weather delay. "Glad no (one) heard me scream like a little girl too!!! Lol"

Rangers officials said the bolt hit just beyond the north side of the ballpark, which in relation to the field is just to the third base side of home plate. No damage or injuries were reported.

An inning earlier, fans sitting in the upper deck were invited over the public address system to move to the lower level as a precaution when a bolt of lightning flashed beyond center field.

A brief rainstorm followed the lightning bolt. When play resumed at 7:55 p.m. Texas time, longtime Rangers Ballpark public address announcer Chuck Morgan called it the loudest thunderclap in stadium history.

"That was very, very loud," Young said. "I've never heard anything that loud in my life, and I've had two infant babies."